Writer: Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng
If there is a silver lining around the botched response of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the coup in Niger, it is that more people probably know about the regional group now than before.
However, it is doubtful that ECOWAS would be flattered by its recent notoriety. Across the region and beyond, ECOWAS has been flayed and portrayed as a group of self-seeking leaders eager to do the bidding of foreign powers to restore one of their own back to power. This may be a tad unfair, but in a sense, ECOWAS has sewn the garb it is clothed in.
ECOWAS deserves better. ECOWAS has been the principal regional organization in West Africa for over four decades. Established on May 28, 1975, with the primary aim of promoting economic integration and development in the region, ECOWAS should have evolved into a platform for addressing a wide range of challenges faced by its member states.
While some progress has been made in various areas, it is obvious that the current state and posture of the regional integration body is far from the ECOWAS we want.In order to truly achieve regional integration and unlock the potential of West Africa, there are key areas that must be prioritised and addressed.
The anti-ECOWAS sentiments that have been voiced in the media and the scorn poured on it on social media indicate a deep and widening gulf between the aspirations of the people and their regional institution.
It must be clear to our leaders that we need a more inclusive ECOWAS that takes into account the voices and aspirations of all citizens in the region. ECOWAS has chalked some success in forging a common West African identity through common identity cards and immigration protocols, it is crucial that ECOWAS becomes more responsive to the needs of its people.
This can be achieved through the strengthening of democratic institutions, promoting good governance, and ensuring the protection of human rights. The ECOWAS we want must be built on the foundations of inclusivity and participation, providing equal opportunities for all.
In the last 30 years, most countries in the ECOWAS region have adopted democracy and representative rule in some form. In the 2000s, a new optimism swept across the sub-regions as military and autocratic rule appeared to give way to democracy elected governments.
However, in short order, not only have soldiers returned to power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger, sentiments appear to run against democracy among citizens. The reason is that even in countries like Ghana and Nigeria, the longest spell of civilian rule does not appear to have altered the fortunes of the people.
Indeed, one of the fundamental pillars of the ECOWAS we want is an organisation that does not only promote enhanced economic integration but actively promotes economic and social equality of opportunity.
Economic disparities within the region hinder the full potential of West Africa and its citizens. To overcome this, ECOWAS should focus on removing trade barriers, harmonising regulations, and facilitating the movement of goods, services, and people across member states.
At the moment, ECOWAS on paper is a far cry from the lived integration experience of ECOWAS citizens. Anyone who has travelled by road from one country to another in the region knows how traumatic it is to cross our borders.
My personal worst recollection was about ten years ago when we travelled to Benin for an assignment on the European Union’s culture fund for Ghana, known as the Cultural Initiatives Support Programme.
It took us about four hours to cross from Togo to Benin; most of the time was used in negotiating the size of the bribe. As the Benin customs officials were unrelenting in their demands, I asked to see the Commissioner. All the officials burst into gleeful laughter. Their leader asked bluntly: who do you think asked us to collect the amount?
Harrowing as the travel experiences may be, it is the collective absence of relevance that is driving the wedge between officialdom and citizenry, and in that context it is difficult to discern democracy as a value cherished by the leaders of ECOWAS countries either individually or as a collective.
There is an institution known as the ECOWAS Parliament which must be one of the best kept secrets in the world. I was shocked to learn that a Ghanaian known as John Azumah is the current Secretary-General of that clandestine body. When was the last time you heard of any political leader in Ghana talking about ECOWAS and ascribing any values to that body.
ECOWAS appears to come alive only when there is a coup in one country, and frankly, the knee-jerk response, albeit based on its statutes, tends to look like an effort to save one of their own. It is not enough to be against military coups; there must be a demonstrable advantage in living under a democratic dispensation.
There must be more to democracy than having institutions that look beautiful and leaders issuing nice-sounding declarations. African institutions – national, regional, and continental – must be at the head of the struggle to free Africa from the shackles of exploitation at the hands of powerful nations and their corporate spearheads.
As we have seen in the recent coups in West Africa, the desire to free themselves from draconian exploitation by France has played strongly in the coup justification narrative.
There is not a single West African country that has overcome the severe infrastructure deficit that throws the massive poverty of the people into such sharp relief.
Today, due to the ease of information-sharing, the youth of African can clearly see the big gap between the infrastructure in our countries which are so heavily gifted with natural resources and what exists in the countries that exploit those resources. What people see is a continuation of the same exploitation with which the former colonial masters sustained their abuse of Africa.
This is what Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah described as NEOCOLONIALISM, and it has continued to describe the relations between those powers and their allies and Africa.
Today, any African institution or government that does not see the fight against neo-colonialism as its raison d’etre risks being alienated from the African people. The rationale for the existence of ECOWAS and other regional blocs as well as the African Union itself is that we are stronger together.
But stronger to do what? If we unite only to continue business as usual and allow our resources to be plundered by others, then that unity becomes counter-productive and a waste of resources. The ECOWAS we want is an organisation bold in vision, strategy, and resource mobilisation to take Africa out of poverty.
This means speaking with one voice against the further exploitation of Africa’s resources. However, to be able to do that, the countries in the organisation must put their own houses in order.
ECOWAS must be a forum in which governments can honestly advocate for the best standards for democratic ideals, human rights, rule of law and social justice in every country.
Writer: Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng
